Curtain fixture



WZZ

pril 12, 1938.

w. s. HAMM CURTAIN FIXTURE Filed Nov. 1e, 1955 Patented Apr. 12, 1938 STATES CURTAIN FIXTURE of Illinois n Application November 16, 1935, Serial No. 50,067

4 Claims. (Cl. 156-26) tion in which placed.

Other more specic objects and advantages of lthe invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction, arrangement and operation of the parts entering into the complete organization.

A Vpreferred embodiment of the invention is presented herein, but it will of course be appreciated that such embodiment is intended primarily for the purpose of exemplification and that the invention is susceptible of being embodied in other structurally modified forms coming equally within the scopeof the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is an inside front View of a window curtain assembly equipped with the new fixture;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the ixture, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar section, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through one end of the xture;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, takenon the line 5 5 of Fig. 4; f f

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the center of the fixture, taken on the line 'ii- 6 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section, taken on the line 1 -1 of Fig. 6. i

As will be observed in the drawing, the fixture includes a tube lll, an operating knob II midway between the ends of the tube, and heads I2 beyond the ends of the tube. The tube Ill, which is preferably made of either sheet or extruded metal, is vertically elongated in cross section, with narrow upper and lower sections and a relatively wide rectangular intermediate section I3, and is provided along its upper edge with a partially closed groove I4 in which the lower edge of the curtain I5 is securely held rby a small filler rod I6 inserted from one end of the tube.

The heads l2 are preferably equipped with rubber blocks Il, but they may befurnished with any other suitable device for frictionally engag ing with the vertical guides I8 at the sides of the window opening. As both of the heads I2 and their associated control members are the same, only one of the heads and its control mem- `of the tube.

bers will be described in detail. As shown in Fig. 4, the left-hand head i2 is provided with a stern I9 which extends into the lend of the tube I0 through a hole in a wood block Zi which is fixedly positioned in the wide intermediate section I3 The hole in the block 25 forms a guideway for the stem of the head to slide back and forth in, and the outer part of the hole is enlarged to provide a pocket for a spring 2i which is coiled about a reduced portion of the stem between a shoulder .'22v on the block and a shoulder 23 on the stem. The spring 2l tends at all times to project the'head I2 outwardly into firmly holding frictional engagement with the guide I3.

The inner end of the stem lil is threaded into a small sleeve 2li which is slidably mounted in an enlargement at the inner end of the hole in the block 2li, and the sleeve 24 is in turn pivotally attached to one end of a long rod 25. The end of the sleeve 2li which is connected with the rod 25 is bifurcated, as best shown in Fig. 5, and ther adjacent end of the rod 25 is iiattened to fit within the bifurcation. A pivot pin 2li is mounted in the bifurcated end and passes through an aperture in the attened portion of the rod, which aperture is elongated axially of the rod to permit of a certain amount of endwise movement of 'the rod relative to the sleeve and its associated stem and head. This endwise movement is normally prevented by the resistance of a spring 2l which is mounted on the rod 25 near the pivotal connection and is compressed between a washer 28 secured to the rod and another washer 29 abutting against the end of the sleeve. The far end of the rod 25 terminates adjacent the location of the knob I I in two oppositely spring-pressed strips 30 which are riveted to the rod and are provided at their free ends with laterally projecting studs 3l.

The rods 25 leading to both heads are connected to a rotatable hub 32 which is located in the tube I0 behind the knob il. The knob has a reduced neck portion 33 which is journaled in a circular aperture cut in the front face of the tube, and the hub 32 is clamped to the inside face of the knob by a screw 35i which passes through the center of the knob and is threaded into a recess in the center of the hub. The end of the hub which is clamped to the knob is larger than the neck portion and accordingly locks the knob against outward movement. The hub is centered on the knob by means of the screw 364 and is caused to turn positively with the' knob by means of a rib 35 on the inside face of the knob which lits into a complementary groove 35 on the adjacent end of the hub. The hub 32 is of generally cylindrical shape, with segments cut out of opposite sides between the ends, which segments leave two pairs of spaced ears 3l. 30 on the inner ends of thel rods 25 are sprung together to t between the ears 31, and when so fitted the studs 3| on the ends of Vthe strips snap into recesses in the ears and establish pivotal connections between the Y ends of the rods andthe hub eccentrically of the axis of the latter. The strips 30 are preferably provided, in the spaces between the same, with yieldable pads 38 of felt or other suitable cushioning and sound-deadening material.

Near the hub 32 the rods 25 are provided with springs 39 which project upwardly and downwardly at an angle from the rods andare provided with bent foot portions 4D which abut with the inside walls of the tube I0 in the enlarged intermediate section I3 thereof. These springs,

in addition to supplementing the action of theV springs 2l in tending to force the heads into engagement with the guides, tend to keep the-rods 25 centered in the tube and free from all up-anddown as well as sidewise play. Y

When the fixture is first installed, the heads I2 are screwed either in or out in the sleeves 24 in order to cause the heads to engage with'the guides I8 just'before the pivotal connections be- Vis started in a direction which would project the' heads instead of retract them the rods'25'wil1 pass through their dead center positions without any diiculty due to'the resiliently yieldable couplings in the rods aiorded by the springs 21.

In assembling the several parts of the fixture at the time of its manufacture, the rods 25 are hooked up with the hub 32 and all of the :insideVV mechanism is then threaded through Vthe tube I0 at the same time. brought into register with the aperture at the center of the tube the knobI Il is placed in position in the aperture and the hub 32 is drawn up tightly against it by means of the screw 34.

The strips It doesnt make any difference inVv Then when the hub 32 is' with theV head, a rotatable operating member connected at a point eccentrically thereof with the rod, and a resiliently yieldable coupling between saidoperating member and said rod so constructedrand arranged as to permit the operating member to berrotatableV in eitherA direction pastV the dead center Yposition of the rod in retracting the head.

2. In a curtainV fixture, an outwardly movable head at one end of the fixture Vfor engagement with a guide at one side of the curtain, a spring for pressing theV head outwardly, a sleeve threadingly connected with the head, a rod pivotally connected with the sleeve, and a rotatable operating member connected ata point eccentrically thereof with the rod for retracting the head.

V3.V In a curtain fixture, an outwardly movable head at one end of the fixture for engagement with a guide at one side of the curtain, a spring for pressing the head outwardly, a sleeve threadinglyV connected with the head, a rod pivotally connected with the sleeve, a rotatable operating member connected at a point eccentrically thereber to be rotated in either direction past the dead center position of the rod in retracting the head.

4. In a curtain xture, a tube adaptedto be secured to the lower end of a window curtain, an outwardly movable head at one end of the tube adapted to engage with a guide at one side of the window, a rotatable member Vmounted in the tube midway between the ends Vof the latter,

a link in the tube pivotally connected at its outer end to the head and at its inner end to the rotatable member at a point eccentrically of the latter, whereby rotation of said member away from a dead center position will retract the head,.a spring acting against the head to project the latter, and 

